We're talking about you!
Twitter often gets a bad press from the business world. Unsophisticated Twitter users broadcast uninteresting tweets about their sandwiches, their journeys to and from work and who’s been caught in the rain.
That means they’re missing the point about Twitter.
Serious businesspeople use Twitter very differently.
Here are three business-focused and highly relevant uses of Twitter. They help businesses to use Twitter more effectively.
Are you using Twitter in these ways?
Twitter helps me to get my ideas out to the world
When you develop new products and services for your business, once upon a time you had to use press releases, articles, interviews and the like to get your ideas out. Now you can put your innovations on your website and onto Facebook.
- You can also tweet about different aspects of what you’re doing in interesting and engaging ways.
- You can ask people for their reactions via Twitter.
- You can show off your expertise in entertaining ways via Twitter.
If your audience finds what you’re doing interesting, people will answer your questions. They will retweet what you have to say. They will promote your content.
It’s great to read a Twitter analytics report and see:
Person ABC retweeted (your tweet’s details) to 3975 followers.
That’s publicity! It’s also great exposure for what you’re doing.
Twitter allows us to engage with our customers and employees at a more personal level.
Some businesses conduct many of their customer service activities via Twitter. They may use direct messages or they may conduct conversations in public. Lots of people like Twitter because it’s quick. In its purest form Twitter is a micro-blogging platform, but many people use it as a messaging system.
It’s not just businesses that are engaging with the public via Twitter. Government departments also make extensive use of Twitter. Guidelines for Twitter usage encourage departments to publish research findings, relevant news, commemorations etc. Those same guidelines encourage Twitter discussions, too.
This approach to using Twitter creates more goodwill. It gives large organisations – including government departments – a human face. Twitter is a great way of reaching out to people in a new way. A lot of smart people have realised this.
In short Twitter is a valuable online communications tool.
You can see what people are saying about you, your business, your products and your services.
This statement is really a vote of confidence in the Twitter search function. Using Twitter search helps businesses to keep up with what is being said about them and the goods and services they supply.
Keeping note of the buzz your business creates is good market research. It’s also a great way of connecting with more people. If people are mentioning your business and what you do, if they are asking questions about your products and services, then the Twitter search function helps you to be aware of this. You can then step in to answer questions. You can offer comments and observations. You can clarify issues, solve problems and demonstrate how helpful your business is to its customers.
That approach will help to make more sales in the long run.
Doing serious business on Twitter
Twitter has lots of things in its favour. It’s a valuable tool. It’s way too useful and too precious a tool to waste on tweets about irrelevancies.
So, now it’s your turn.
How useful – I mean really useful – do you think Twitter is to your business? Let me know in the comments section below.
See also:
Not enough Twitter followers? – Are you making these seven Twitter mistakes?
How to get more people to notice your tweets
About Margaret Adams
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